


In a Universe Far Away...

by writewithurheart



Series: 30 Day Prompt Challenge [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Library, Fluff, Mostly Fluff, Multi, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Tumblr Prompts, various prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-24 16:57:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9772814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writewithurheart/pseuds/writewithurheart
Summary: A Collection of One-Shots based on Alternate Universe Prompts.Chapter 1-4: Coffee Shop AUs, various pairingsChapter 5-6: Flower Shop AUChapter 7-8: Library AUChapter 9: Rebelcaptain Date Night on Hoth





	1. The Crazy Cappuccino

 

“You have _got_ to be kidding me! Is this a joke?” Jyn turns to stare incredulously at Bodhi who pauses with his permanent marker hovering over the next coffee cup.

Bodhi shrugs. “That’s what he ordered.”

Jyn huffs and turns back to the plastic cup. “2% milk, two expresso shots, ice, then skim milk foam with caramel and mocha drizzle? Is this a drink or a social experiment? Hasn’t anyone ever told,” she squints at the name, “Cassie that drinks should by four words at most: Coffee, Cappuccino, Skinny Vanilla Latte. Those are drinks.” She angrily stabs the button for the necessary shots.

Bodhi shrugs as he fills the next cup with coffee. “You know the deal.”

“Yeah, yeah, I just make the drinks, but Cassie is ridiculous.”

Bodhi slides the cup of black coffee across the counter. “K! Black Coffee!”

A tall man steps forward. “Thank you. I find the coffee here is quite satisfactory.”

“Riiight,” Bodhi says slowly.

Jyn grins at the man as she works on the ridiculous skim milk foam. K had showed up a couple days ago and asked skeptically for the best type of sludge they called coffee. He’d been back every day since then. He was actually starting to grow on her. “How’s work today, K? Big, mean boss still getting you down?”

“He is as irritable as always,” Kay confirms. “I had hoped having some delicious coffee would improve his mood. However, I appear to have underestimated his specificity in drink orders.”

With a comprehending nod, she slides the newly dubbed Crazy Drink onto the counter. “Cassie.”

“It’s Cassian, actually,” the man beside K says with a tight smile. “And do you just casually refer to me as your mean boss?”

Jyn smiles disarmingly even as embarrassment floods her system. “If the shoe fits.”

She turns away after that, to start on the orders now lining up the counter from another rush. She seems them linger out of the corner of her eye, but her mind is already back in the drinks, dismissing the interaction as one of thousands she’ll have during a regular shift, even if she has to admit there’s a rather nice pair of brown eyes attached to his one. 

In fact, she doesn’t remember it until next time she gets a plastic cup with those same ridiculous instructions. She scowls and walks to the end of the counter, spotting K where he stands a foot above everyone else. “You!” She points at his companion. “What the heck is with this drink?”

He shrugs, with an off-putting grin. “I know how I like my coffee.”

She growls at him. “You’re ridiculous.”

He doesn’t argue, but he hovers at the counter, watching as she makes his drinks to his meticulous instructions. She puts the drink in front of him with a scowl. “Your Crazy Cappuccino, Your Highness.”

If she thought his earlier smile was disarming, it’s got nothing on this one. This one makes her weak in the knees as he backs away. “See you next time, Jyn.”

And if she starts to look forward to his Crazy Cappuccino, well who can blame her?


	2. The Coffee Addict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt: I’m worried about your coffee dependency

 

Cassian’s tired, that soul-deep tired that drags on his eyelids, pulling them shut. He hasn’t slept more than three hours in the last two nights combined. He’s been living off adrenaline and the near constant orders from his boss about their latest product. Nothing is enough for Dravin. This game design is absolutely insane and Dravin keeps changing his designs.

It’s supposed to be beta tested in a couple days and Dravin has them working non-stop to fix everything to his exacting specifications. Some made sense: the game was glitching on Level 4, the villain isn’t menacing enough, the storyline has a huge plot hole. Others are bizarre: get rid of the color purple, start the soundtrack from scratch, add in cute little bears that look like Ewoks from Star Wars.

To Cassian, the edits can happen _after_ their game is given the go-ahead by the beta testers, but he’s not the man in charge, and if Draven is willing to pay them overtime, he’s not going to complain.

He shakes his hands, as if the movement could dispel his fatigue only to pause outside his partner’s office. He frowns as he moves closer, staring at the paper cups that cover every available surface. “K?”

Tentatively, he steps inside. The computers on the far wall are all on, but K-2SO is gone. Cassian picks up a couple empty cups, tossing them into the garbage can already overflowing with empty cups. He sighs and walks out the door, grabbing his coat on the way.

If K’s not here, he’s making yet another run to the all-night café down the street for another large coffee. K doesn’t power nap, which means he probably hasn’t gotten any sleep in the last four days. He’s probably more caffeine than anything else at this point.

“I am not serving you any coffee until you’ve slept at least four hours, preferably longer!”

Cassian grins at the sound of Jyn’s shout as he pushes the café door open.

“You can’t turn away customers!”

Cassian joins K at the register, winking at Jyn as he does. “K, when was the last time you slept?”

K turns a glare on Cassian. “None of your business. Without coffee, do you know how long it will take us to finish this project?”

Cassian sighs. “K-“

“A long time.”

Jyn rolls her eyes and leans forward. “No more coffee. You’ve been coming in every two hours on the dot for a large coffee. I don’t know how you haven’t had a heart attack yet.”

“Cassian, tell your girlfriend to give me coffee.” K turns to him expectantly.

He glances at Jyn, more than aware that she’s taken her stand here and she’s not going to give K any more coffee, no matter what he says. She won’t even sell him coffee if she thinks he might give it to K.

“We have enough time for you to sleep, K. I can handle the latest updates.” Probably. He’ll have to call in Bodhi. He’s only supposed to be working part time, but they should have called him in as soon as Draven started the latest round of demands. “Besides, you  know Bodhi’s the best with the flight simulation parts.”

K glares at them. “I hate when you two team up.” He stalks away from the counter with a pout.

Cassian sighs and turns back to Jyn with a smile. “Thank you. His office is covered in cups.”

“I know.” Jyn leans over the counter with a flirty smile, but the worry in her eyes is what bothers him. “I haven’t seen you in two days.”

He squeezes her hand and lifts it for a kiss. “We’re almost done, _mi amor_. Dravin’s just being more of a…” He searches for a good word in English.

“A slavedriver? Asshole? Arrogant son of a-“

“Jyn Erso,” he warns, cutting her off from the rant he knows has been growing over the last two days. He smiles at her. She’s only annoyed because she cares. “If I’m not done in twenty-four hours, you have my permission to drag me home.”

“Twenty hours,” she compromises, rising on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. “Don’t make me come get you.”

He grins back at her. “I won’t.”


	3. Coffee Stains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: you accidentally poured boiling hot coffee over me so you’re responsible for taking me to A&E

 

**Coffee Stains**

Scalding heat, sudden and surprising, blossomed on Baze’s chest. As hot brown liquid seeped through the layers of his clothes, the pain intensifies. Pulling the shirt from his skin does little to alleviate the pain. He considers dabbing at it with a handful of napkins for only a moment before he’s driven to more dramatic measures. 

He yanks the shirt over his head and uses the dry back of the shirt to blot at his skin, sadly mourning the shirt’s demise. It had been one of his favorites and one of the few void of any coffee stains. It’s ruined anymore. When he opened the café he’s anticipated the stains, but somehow he still attempted to wear lighter colors from time to time.

Then again, most of the stains were not the result of clumsy customers bumping into him.

“I am so sorry.”

Baze turns on the customer, prepared with the usual empty comments about how it’s not a big deal. Nevermind that he’s going to need to go buy a new shirt to replace this one. The words die on his tongue when he gets a good look at the clumsy customer: Chirrut Imwe.

The blind man leans on his walking stick, looking completely unremorseful. He’s been a regular for years, so much so that he’s a fixture in the café. He’s a preacher at the temple down the street. He appeared one day for a cup of coffee and he doesn’t seem to have ever left.

Baze doesn’t know who told Chirrut that he used to be an initiate at the temple, but now the man makes a point to engage him in discussions about the Force and how it guides them all in life. If it were anyone else, Baze would have gotten annoyed and kicked him out years ago, but Chirrut…Chirrut had gotten under his skin. He couldn’t hate the man. It would be like hating himself, hating his own heart.

“I didn’t think there was anyone behind me,” Chirrut expounds with a small smirk.

He’s full of shit and both of them know it. Baze doesn’t believe for one second that Chirrut didn’t know he was there. The man had a talent for premonition, for seeing without sight, that surpassed any other preacher Baze had ever met. The Force spoke strongly to Chirrut. He didn’t do anything by accident, including spilling his entire cup of freshly brewed coffee.

“Let me buy a shirt to replace yours. I would hate for you to have to wear that stained shirt all day, especially not with that business meeting you have this afternoon.”

Baze snorts. Of course he knows about the meeting, the reason for the nice shirt. Normally, he would protest, but it feels oddly as if the blind man is ogling him, which should be impossible. And the impish expression on Chirrut’s face tells him this was done on purpose. 

“Yeah, Boss, let him buy you a shirt!” Jyn Erso teases from behind the counter, elbowing Bodhi Rook beside her. “We can hold down the fort here, right, Bodhi?”

The newbie nods. “Oh, yeah. We’ve got it.”

They’re all in on it. This is because he hasn’t followed Jyn’s advice to ask out Chirrut. This is exactly the kind of thing she would orchestrate to force his hand. She would leave him standing shirtless in the middle of his own café while his crush smirked at him. He doesn’t know _how_ she did it, but she did.

“Come. I know the perfect place.” Chirrut moves then, with purpose, toward the front door. Baze starts when Chirrut pauses to pat his chest. “And it’s right next to a restaurant that has the best tacos. It’ll be a date.”

Baze sputters at the suggestion. “What?”

“It’s the least I can do,” Chirrut says nonchalantly as he resumes walking out the door. “Besides, if I kept waiting for you to make a move, we wouldn’t get anywhere.”

He has no response to the man as he struggles to ignore his employees guffawing behind the counter. He’s in a state of shock. Nothing seems to be processing. Chirrut spilled coffee on him. His shirt…he looks down at the now brown material. His shirt is ruined. He needs a new one, one Chirrut is going to buy for him and then they’re going to go get lunch…together…but if he wanted to ask Baze out…

“You didn’t have to spill coffee on me.” He would have said yes. Ruining his favorite shirt was completely unnecessary.

Chirrut walks away with a grin, forcing Baze to follow after him as he calls over his shoulder. “Now what would be the fun in that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I didn't quite follow the prompt, and I'm not sure how well I nailed the characters as this is my first time writing from Baze's POV, so let me know what you think (good or bad).


	4. I am Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: you give me a different fake name every time you come into starbucks and I just want to know your real name bc ur cute but here I am scrawling “batman” onto your stupid cappuccino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a new ship for me...but it seemed to be the only one that fit, so...here ya go!

**I am Batman**

“Hey! Red Eye?” Bodhi grins meekly at the café’s newest regular, a sandy-haired college student with a budding caffeine addiction. He’s got kind eyes and is mostly soft-spoken, except for this one quirk… “What’s the name today?”

Every day for the two weeks, the cute stranger has come in, ordered a coffee with one espresso shot and when he asks for a name…

“I am Batman!” His voice roughens to imitate Christian Bale from the movie, but he breaks character a moment later with a laugh.

Every day a different name, mostly stolen from internet trends. It started with Primrose Everdeen, and Bodhi had humored him because he was cute. Then Harry Potter characters. Other famous names, obviously, none of them his. It started out as humorous. Jyn would roll her eyes and shake her head, asking why Bodhi even bothered asking for his name if he kept giving fake ones, but she left him to flirt – or not flirt as the case may be since he can never garner the courage to actually flirt.

Bodhi smirks at the name and slides the cup under the spout for the espresso. “So…” He searches for a way to breach conversation, but comes up empty. He’s never been a good conversationalist. He’s socially awkward and inept. He can’t do this.

“You guys must get busy around finals, huh?” Batman asks, leaning congenially over the counter.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Great. Real good job, Bodhi Rook. That totally sounds coherent.

“Do you see a lot of college students?”

He’s still talking. That’s a good sign? Right? Bodhi shakes his head. Speak Bodhi, answer the question. “Uh, yeah. Mostly Grad students.” Bodhi pours coffee into the cup, leaving half an inch for milk and slides it across the counter. “Here you go, Batman.”

He smiles at Batman and the man smiles back. His mouth opens like he wants to say something, but just stares at him instead.

“OH MY GOD!” Jyn shouts behind Bodhi. She bumps Bodhi out of the way. “Just stop it! One of you write your freaking number down and put the rest of us out of our misery!”

She throws a pen and pad of post-its between them before storming into the back room, muttering something about annoying idiots. Batman turns bright red and escapes to his table in the corner.

Bodhi sighs, grabbing the pen and post-it to stow back behind the cash register. For a brief moment there, he thought that maybe Jyn’s intervention would work, that he would finally get to know Batman’s real name and maybe get a date, or at least confirmation that the man was just as interested in him.

He throws himself into his work, doesn’t notice Batman’s furtive glances in his direction over the next hour. Jyn’s sympathetic, pitying look is too painful to be around, but she seems to understand as she takes over the register, allowing him the peace of stocking, washing dishes, and baking. He’s clearing tables when a girl slides into the seat beside Batman, kissing his cheek in greeting.

She’s pretty, Bodhi supposes. With her brown hair and bright smile. She laughs at whatever he says, but her response makes Batman hit his head on the table and cover his face in shame, which only makes her laugh harder. Bodhi shakes his head and slips back into the kitchen.

He always manages to fall for the straight ones.

“Okay, time to stop wallowing.”

He jumps in surprise at Jyn’s voice, spraying water and soap across the floor. “What?”

“I have to go on break. I need you to hold down the fort. Think you can handle that?”

With a shake of his head, Bodhi attempts to rid himself of his current funk. “Yeah. I got this.”

“Oh, and Bodhi?”

He turns back, eyes raised in a question.

“That girl isn’t his girlfriend. It’s his sister.”

Bodhi tries to contain that spark of hope as he takes his place at the register again. His mind settles into the routine of making drinks like it’s a meditation. It’s simple. After four months, making lattes is second nature: The amount of syrup, the shots, the amount of time it takes to appropriately steam the milk, the sound the steamer makes when the milk is close to 180 degrees.

A peal of laughter snaps him out of his trance.

Without looking he knows it comes from Batman’s corner. He resists the urge to look up, to confirm Jyn’s intelligence by some tacit social cue or something. How could she know that for sure? Of course, the rational part of his brain demands he stop obsessing over something that will never come to be.

“Hey.”

Bodhi jerks, twisting around to the register with his thank-you-for-coming-to-our-café smile. “Hi! What can I get for…you?”

It’s Batman. Bodhi’s eyes slide to his table. The brunette sits there, watching them with another man lounging next to her, his arm over the back of her chair. The girl is watching Batman avidly, her leg bouncing in agitation. The guy just looks amused

“Um, another red eye?” Bodhi asks, unsure. Batman doesn’t usually come back for a second drink.

“Yeah.” Batman glances back at his table with a nervous, pained expression. “And, uh, the name’s Luke.”

Bodhi pauses with the permanent marker pressed against the paper cup, waiting for the punchline. “Cage?”

“No.” He runs a hand through his hair and kicks at the ground. “Skywalker. Luke Skywalker. That’s my name.”

Bodhi fights the smile on his face and loses as he writes Luke on the cup. That confession seems to be the end of Luke’s courage as he turns back to his table. As he looks away, Bodhi makes up his mind. Luke’s made his move: revealing his real name. Now it’s Bodhi’s turn.

Before he can think it through, he scribbles his phone number on the cup and then quickly presses the button for the espresso before he can change his mind. He glances back at Luke who still appears to be working through his embarrassment.

“It’s nice to meet you, Luke Skywalker.” Bodhi grins, holding out his hand. “Bodhi Rook.”

“Nice to meet you, Bodhi.”

That little spark burns a little brighter as Luke smiles. It erupts as their hands brush when Luke takes his coffee. It’s a raging bonfire when he gets the first text. By the time they have their first date, Bodhi’s pretty sure he’s entered another reality.

He’s never been happier.


	5. The Mystery Bouquets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flower shop AU: You buy a weird amount of flowers and I’m concerned as to why

**The Mystery Bouquets**

It’s the fourth day in a row that he’s walked into her shop and ordered five different bouquets, all addressed to different addresses. The first day she dismissed it was an oddity: he was apologizing to a girlfriend. It happened more often than she had thought when she first started working at the store.

When she was seven, her father had left his job in weapons’ development to open a flower shop. She remembers being utterly perplexed with the sudden change. She hadn’t understood the sudden change from the industrial city to the suburban town and the house with the greenhouse in the back. It had taken her father a while to understand exactly how to care for the various plants. She remembers him poring over books at all hours as he struggled to comprehend why flowers were wilting or failing to grow.

She never dreamed that twelve years later, she’d be here, watching the store while her parents jet off to Europe to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary. It’s actually a miracle she has any idea what she’s doing. Well, that and all the years of watching her father craft flower arranging into his own personal art form. He certainly proved both Jyn and Lyra wrong about the success of the shop.

Still, despite the customers and orders, a man coming in for five expensive bouquets is something to notice. She narrows her eyes as he wanders the displays, sniffing a flower or two occasionally. Jyn doesn’t get it. She’s never seen the appeal of certain flowers over others. Or gotten the point of the different meetings.

“Is that him?”

“Jeeze!” Jyn yelps, spinning to face the delivery boy. Cassian grins at her, pulling down the zipper of his blue jacket. “Don’t sneak up on a girl like that!”

He winks and leans over to press a kiss to her cheek before relaxing against the counter beside her. “So this is the guy who orders the five bouquets?”

She huffs in annoyance, but leans so her side pressed against his. “Yup. It’s him. You figured out if they’re going to the same person yet?”

“Now that would be an invasion of privacy, Jyn Erso.”

“Oh, come on, you know it’s bugging you too. _Why_ does he need so many flowers? And can’t he take a hint? If she hasn’t forgiven him yet, she’s not going to. And aren’t you supposed to be Mr. Sneaky or something like that?”

Cassian frowns a little, offended by her insinuations. “First, I think it’s romantic. Second, I don’t think he’s asking for forgiveness, he’s just showing that he cares. Third, I’m sneaky and intuitive, but I’m not nosy. I’m not the one who reads everyone’s notes.”

Jyn turns her scowl back to the man. “At least if he wrote notes, I would have some answers. He literally just walks around _sniffing_ flowers and then picks random bouquets.”

Cassian smirks.

“You know something!” Jyn pulls away from him as she figures it out. “You know something about the recipient. Tell me!” She slaps his arm. “Come on, you have to tell me!”

He chuckles, a deep sound that leaves Jyn tingly from her head to her toes. “Nope.”

“Come on! Just a hint!”

Cassian twists away from her to face the customer getting closer to their position. “Mr. Malbus, what can I get for you today?”

The large man’s permanent scowl doesn’t shift as his attention narrows to Jyn and Cassian. “Same bouquet as two days ago, delivered to this address. Then this flower with that one…“

Jyn scurries to write down the instructions, slightly dazed at the specificity today. It’s different from the last couple visits, where the flowers have been seemingly random. Today, he knows what he wants for the most part.

“Is that all?” Jyn asks politely as Cassian starts to gather together the flowers.

Baze Malbus hands over his credit card with a nod and Jyn decides to just ask the question.

“So who are all these flowers for?”

His brows drawn closer together as he frowns. Baze stares her down for a moment. He’s the kind of hulking guy you don’t expect to see surrounded by flowers, and Jyn can’t decide if that makes him more or less scary.

He doesn’t back down, not really. He still looks intimidating as he responds: “My boyfriend likes the smells. He’s blind.”

Cassian wags his eyebrows at her behind Baze’s back.

“Oh.” 

“He says the flowers here smell the best.”  With that pronouncement, Baze nods and walks out of the shop.

Cassian lays the first completed bouquet beside her. “Happy now? Is your curiosity sated?”

Jyn sighs. “It’s super sweet, but I was kind of hoping for something more nefarious.”

He laughs. “Like what?”

“I don’t know…some secret code in the meanings of the flowers, they were being used as a signal. Something cool!”

Cassian shakes his head. “You’re ridiculous.”

She pouts, working on the next bouquet. She refuses to look up, even as he pelts her with the end of stems and little bits of baby’s breath. Sure, it sounds crazy, but it would make a great story.


	6. Allergies are the Worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m allergic to flowers but I work in a flower shop – you’re a customer who’s very confused as to why I’d do that

**Allergies are the Worst**

 

“Ah-Ah-Ah-Choooooo.”

Baze glances toward the counter with a frown. They’ve been here five minutes and the cashier has sneezed no less than seven times. Even from across the room, he can tell it’s a severe case of allergies. The runny nose, the red eyes, the perpetually frazzled look. He sighs. People are idiots. Who would work at a job when they’re allergic to flowers?

“Be nice,” Chirrut scolds, slapping Baze’s chest. He continues to walk, lifting flowers to take a brief smell, before moving to the next one. He pauses. “These flowers. These are perfect.”

Baze glances at the poor boy behind the counter. “Do you think he’s well enough to do this?”

Chirrut smiles that mysterious smirk he prefers, the one that makes it seem like he has the answers to everything in the universe. Baze knows better. It’s mostly vague comments, and luck. And an uncanny ability to predict where things will be. Nevertheless, Baze follows him to the counter, just as he’d follow this man anywhere.

“Hi-ah-chooo,” the boy turns away to sneeze into his sleeve. “How can I help you?”

“Are you okay?” Baze asks, frowning at the boy. His name tag – hanging crookedly from his vest – reads Bodhi. He looks like his body is slowly killing him.

“’m fine,” he mumbles. “What can I get for you?”

“We need a bouquet with fragrant flowers.” Chirrut smiles widely, leaning forward onto his walking stick. 

“The blue ones,” Baze elaborates. He points at the bucket.

Bodhi shuffles around pulling together the bouquet. “How many flowers do you want? Do you want any baby’s breath? Any other flowers? A card?” Another sneeze. “What’s the occasion?”

“Our little sister and her husband just had their first child.”

“A boy?” Bodhi reaches for the blue tissue paper.

“No. A girl.” Baze narrows frowns. Why would he think that?

Bodhi pauses, hesitantly replacing the blue paper with a pink one.

“Those flowers speak to her aura.”

Baze rolls his eyes at Chirrut’s announcement. Of course that’s why he chose them.

“So you guys are uncles now?” Sneeze. “Oh, don’t worry about me. These are just aller-“ sneeze “gies.”

“Why do you work in a flower shop if you’re allergic to flowers?” The question is begging to be asked, so as much as he would love to talk about little Lara Andor, his precious niece, he’s following this train of thought.

“I needed a job and it was the only place hiring.” Bodhi smiles at them. 

Baze looks around for the elusive dog.

“I’ve heard the café down the street is hiring.” Chirrut turns to smile banally at Baze.

“Galactic Java? I didn’t see a sign.”

“I have an in with the owner,” Chirrut assures him.

Baze grumbles under his breath. He can’t believe what he puts up with for the sake of this man.

“Really?”

Chirrut grins and twists towards Baze. “I married him.”

Baze throws money on the counter for the flowers. “Bring in an application Monday.” He loops his arm through Chirrut’s. As much fun as this has been, he wants to see his niece.


	7. Give a Girl a Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You’re overdue on this book and I want it so I’m tracking u the fuck down

**Give a Girl a Book**

“Alright, Andor, where is it?”

Cassian glances up from his report with a frown. He squints against the sunlight as he takes in Jyn Erso’s angry face. It’s not the first time he’s witnessed the passion in her eyes or the hard set of her face when she knows what she wants and has decided that she’s going to get it, no matter the cost. Honestly, it’s a bit of a turn on. Not that he’ll tell her that when she’s angry, but her passion is exquisite.

“Where’s the book?” She demands, dropping into the seat beside him.

He casts around for an inkling as to what she’s talking about, but the answer eludes him. “What are you talking about?”

“ _The History of Intelligence_? The book you checked out of the library three weeks ago, the same book you know I wanted to read.”

Right. Now he remembers. It’s under his bed right now, an old receipt stuck between the thin pages about three quarters of the way back. He got distracted a couple days ago by another one of Bodhi’s ‘secret missions’ and hadn’t picked it up since then. At the time, the joy ride in the helicopter had been worth it. Now, staring into fierce brown eyes, he’s a bit on the fence. On one hand, if he had finished it Jyn wouldn’t be angry. On the other hand, he now gets to spend more time around her.

“I haven’t finished it yet.” She’s not going to leave it at that, but Cassian returns to his report all the same. It’s kind of fun to rile her up.

“Doesn’t matter,” she crows, leaning on his desk and covering his report. “Wanna know why?”

Cassian taps his pen on the paper, which he can’t write on because she’s covering the next section. He sighs and looks up at her expectantly.

“It’s been more than two weeks, which means it’s overdue.”

He sighs, wondering what her game is here. “So what? I can renew it.”

“But you can’t!” She grins at him. “Because someone else has it on hold.”

“You.”

“Me!” She sits back with a huge grin, clearly pleased with herself.

“But you can’t get it until I actually return the book,” Cassian points out with his own smile. If he keeps the book, then she’ll come bug him every day. It’s childish, but it allows him to spend time with her, to witness her playful side. And no doubt, she’ll attempt to return the book for him, which would be interesting. Really, it just amounts to spending more time in her presence, which is always a win for him, and maybe – just maybe – it would convince her to say yes when he finally asks her out.

“Oh, you’ll return the book.” Jyn stands, confident in every moment.

Cassian frowns. She’s still light and teasing. There’s something up her sleeve, and it’s not the cards she uses to cheat. “And why would I do that when I still haven’t finished it?”

Jyn leans over the desk again, her facing pausing inches from his own. “Because Kay says you like me.”

He freezes, unable to look away from the mirth that twinkles in her brown eyes. It looks good on her, like it’s meant to be there. He should probably be embarrassed by the fact that Kay spilled his secret to his crush, but all he really wants is to find out what Jyn’s smirk tastes like.

She draws him in, like gravity. Her breath catches in her throat, as her eyes drop to his lips. And just like that he’s got the upper hand once more.

“And what are you gonna do with that information?”

Jyn’s eyes search his face. It’s a game of chicken now. Who will make the first move? Who will the sexual tension get to first? He can’t be the only one who feels it, the only one effected by their proximity. Her dilated pupils speak to the veracity of that.

Cassian likes the thrill, so he feels a wave of regret as Jyn pulls back and her breath no longer fans his face. She backs from the room, biting her bottom lip as she watches him. He would give her just about whatever she wants right now. He’d walk all the way back to the room to grab the book and hand it over.

“If you return the book, I just might say yes when you finally ask me out.” With one last flirtatious smile, she disappears out the door.

Jyn finds the book on her bed when she gets back to her room, her library card slipped between the pages. But what really brings a smile to her face is the pink sticky note on the cover that reads:

**Coffee. Tomorrow. 10am.**

She shakes her head. It’s about time he asked. Of course, he would do it in the most Cassian way possible.

It’s a good thing she likes him too.


	8. Study Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I work in the library and I’m a little concerned for your health bc you never stop studying

**Study Break**

She’s still here.

Cassian pauses in the act of slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder, eyes caught on the brunette chewing on her pen as she stares at the biggest textbook he’s seen, the same book she was staring at when he showed up for his work shift, the same one she was staring at yesterday. He’s 90% certain she hasn’t moved at all in the last three days. He knows finals are coming up, but this is ridiculous.

He twists back to the library desk. “K? How long has she been sitting there?”

His partner in crime, the grad student who usually gets stuck on the same shifts as Cassian because no one else wants to put up with him, looks up from his own textbook, bored. His eyes drift to the girl and he shrugs. “She does appear to have been studying for a long time.”

In a moment of indecision, Cassian taps his knuckles against the counter. He’s had pleasant conversations with her, bits and pieces of banter exchanged as he went about his job and she sought out the books needed for her latest project. He also knows from quiet observation that when she buries herself in projects, she has a tendency to forget about everything else, including food breaks.

The decision has already been made, even as he worries he might come off as a creeper, despite the acquaintance they’ve settled into. He can’t in good conscience leave knowing that she probably hasn’t eaten in the last eight hours of his shift. Heaven help him, she makes him want to coddle him, turns him into a mother hen.

He strides over to her and kicks at her chair to get her attention. “Come on, Erso, we’re getting out of here.”

She starts, eyes blinking up at him, glazed over from hours and hours of studying. “What?”

“We’re getting out of here.”

Jyn frowns at him, eyes darting around the library for some sort of explanation. “Why?”

Cassian closes her book firmly. “Because you’ve been studying for hours without a break. You need food.”

“Who made you king of the world?” She grabs her book back from him, insistent on continuing her studying.

He closes the book again. “Tell me you’re not hungry or you don’t need a cup of coffee, and I’ll leave.”

She wants to do it. It’s written all over her face as she glares right at him, but there’s also purple and blue bags under her eyes, two empty coffee cups in close proximity, and a rumble in her stomach. There’s a particularly loud growl from her stomach.

“That’s what I thought,” he says with a smirk, closing her book. “Come on. I know a great all-night diner.”

Her textbook has to weigh at least twenty pounds as he tucks it under his arm so she can’t stay behind and continue to study. She grumbles and drags her feet but by the time he opens the door she’s walking through it before him with an annoyed huff.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she grumbles as he takes the lead. Well, takes the lead isn’t quite right. They walk in step across the street and down a couple blocks to the world’s best diner. He discovered it his freshman year when he was in desperate need of a waffle at 3am.

“You’re going to work yourself into an early grave.”

“I could say the same to you,” she counters, walking backwards so she can face him as they speak. “You’re always either working or studying or doing that social justice club. Do you ever have any time for fun?”

He grins at her. “So you’ve been keeping tabs on me.”

She snorts, turning back around. “Don’t get a big head about it. I’m just observant.”

But her words can’t stay his grin or her blush at being caught. It’s nice to know that she pays as much attention to their interactions as he does. Maybe he means as much to her as she’s come to mean to him. She yanks open the door to the diner and holds it open for him.

He shakes his head as he walks up to the counter.

“Seat yourself. You know the drill,” Baze’s harsh voice shouts from the back.

Jyn blinks in surprise, glancing at Cassian in confusion. “What?”

Cassian ushers her to a booth. “That’s Baze. He owns the place.”

She nods, but doesn’t ask any more questions as she takes in the décor of The Rogue One Diner. Cassian’s content to wait in silence, remembering how surreal it was to walk into the finer the first time and see the stunning randomness of the colors and decorations. Absolutely nothing in the room matches. There’s brilliant yellows and muted reds. Blues, greens, even browns and blacks. A splash of purple, some of the shades clashing brilliantly. 

“It looks like a rainbow threw up on this place. Who decorated? A blind man?”

“What if it was?”

Cassian smiles at Jyn’s shock as she twists around to face the man in sitting a booth over. “Hello, Chirrut.” He’s the only other person in the diner. He’s fairly certain she didn’t know Chirrut was there until he spoke.

“Cassian,” the man says with a nod, head only vaguely turned in their direction. “You’ve brought company today.”

“Chirrut Imwe, Jyn Erso. Jyn Erso, meet Chirrut.”

Jyn frowns, waving her hand in front of his face. “Hi…”

“Don’t bother. I can’t see.”

She drops her hand, chagrined. “Oh.”

Cassian rolls his eyes as he leans back in the seat. He’s watched this interaction hundreds of times and he’s pretty sure Chirrut gets immense pleasure out of revealing his blindness to unsuspecting people. If the man could see, Cassian would say he picked all the oddly colored furniture in Rogue One just for the shock value. Chirrut was nothing if not theatrical.

Jyn glances at him, unsure about what to say next. Chirrut has that marvelous ability around everyone he meets.

“Baze!” Chirrut suddenly cries. “They’ll have on Jedha breakfast special, and one Rebel Captain.”

“Stop telling my customers what they want,” Baze shouts, sticking his head out from the back room. “They can order for themselves.”

Chirrut snorts. “But why would they when I know what they want so much better?”

Jyn leans toward Cassian. “What kind of place did you bring me to?” She whispers to him in an undertone.

“I’m blind not deaf,” Chirrut cuts in, turning his head so it appears that he’s looking right at her.

She winces. “Sorry.”

“Chirrut and Baze own Rogue One,” Cassian explains with a grin. “Baze is the best chef in the city, and Chirrut,” he nods to the blind man, “has an uncanny ability to know what you want.”

“Oh, really? And what if I want to order my own food?” Jyn asks, eyes narrowed, a challenge.

“I wouldn’t recommend it, Little Sister,” Chirrut says almost smugly. “Chirrut always knows.”

Jyn stares at Cassian in wide-eyed amazement. “This is your idea of a study break?”

He raises a hand to calm her. “Wait until you try the food.”

Cassian remembers his skepticism the first time he came here after a late night shift. He’d been driven here because nothing else was open, and the first thing Chirrut had done was order him breakfast, something not on the menu. He’d tried to protest, but after his first bite…The first bite always tasted like heaven. Every bite did.

In his mind, this was a great idea. Take Jyn out for food at the best diner in town and win her over with delicious food, but he made a grave miscalculation: he forgot about the bliss of the first bite of Baze’s masterpieces. It sated a hunger that went deeper than flesh and bone. It fed the soul.

Jyn’s first bite is tentative, a small sample of her overflowing plate, but he knows the exact moment she tastes the omelet in all its glory because the sound that escapes her is orgasmic. The moan undermines his confidence and for the first time, casts doubt on his decision to bring her here. Because he wants to hear that sound again, wants to hear Jyn moan like that in completely different circumstances, decidedly non-platonic circumstances.

“Okay, Andor,” she says around bites of food, “you can interrupt my studying any time you want.”

He grins. “I’m going to take you up on that.” He doesn’t mean to say it so suggestively, even if he’s thinking of it that way. He just can’t subdue all the feelings roiling under his skin.

Jyn’s fork hovers halfway to her mouth in surprise. Her lips curve up slowly in a smirk. “Is that a promise?”

“I guess that depends,” he says slowly.

“On?”

“If you’ll go on a date with me.” There it is. It’s all out there on the table, and he’s even more aware of their audience now.

Jyn’s smirk turns into a full-blown smile. “I think that can be arranged.”

Cassian doesn’t know if he’s even been this happy as he stares into Jyn’s warm green eyes, dancing with mirth as she reaches across the table to squeeze his hand. He’s not sure he can trust himself, that he can ensure this isn’t a dream. “Yeah?”

Jyn smiles back with a nod. “Yeah. I was getting tired of waiting. I was going to ask you out after finals if you didn’t make your move.”

A laugh escapes him on a huff of air as he shakes his head. His thumb draws patterns on the back of their joined hands as he stares at them in wonder. This is actually happening. “So, dinner? Tomorrow? 8 pm?”

Jyn bites her lower lip, but it doesn’t dim her grin. “I’m looking forward to it.”

 


	9. Date Night on Hoth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt from jackkellyssweetheart on tumblr: Jyn/Cassian: dinner date bonus points if they have to get creative on how to get two seats next to each other in a mess hall in order to even remotely call it a date.

**Date Night on Hoth**

“Move,” Jyn growls as she drops her metal tray on the table beside Cassian, heedless of the pilot currently joking around as he picks at an almost empty plate.

He blinks up at her in surprise. “What?”

Cassian sighs. “Jyn…”

“It’s date night, flyboy. Make yourself scarce.”

The pilot – Jyn must have seen him around but she doesn’t remember his name – laughs it off and vacates the seat in good humor. “Looks like you have a prior obligation, Andor. We’ll catch up later.”

Still chuckling, he walks away, shaking his head. But Jyn’s already claimed his vacated seat. She digs into the first fresh food they’ve had in months, groaning at the full flavors that explode on her tongue without the cardboard aftertaste of their usual fare. It’s heaven.

“Was that necessary?” Cassian asks casually beside her, twisting so he faces her.

Jyn shrugs as she chews, not pausing her food intake to respond with words.

“There’s an empty chair across the table.” He points to the blue chair, mouth twitching with amusement.

Well, of course she knew that, she thinks acerbically. “I like this one better.” She stares at him a moment later, daring him to make more of it. “Besides,” she continues as she turns back to her food, “it’s date night.”

He huffs. “We don’t _have_ date night.”

Jyn pauses. “We’re sleeping together, we eat meals together when we’re on base at the same time. What else would you call it?”

Sure, she grew up in various rebel encampments and shady hideouts, but she does know what dates are. It’s also the easiest way to explain their complicated relationship to people:

Yes, they’re sleeping together. Yes, they’re exclusive. No, Kay, that does not mean they’re in a serious relationship. Yes, a relationship is the connection between two people. But no. Just NO, Kay!

“You know, this is why the whole base thinks we’re married.”

Jyn chokes on a mouthful of food. Coughing as she reaches for the nearest drink, which happens to be Cassian’s, not that he minds. He rubs her back as she sputters, suppressing his amusement as she comes up for air.

“They what?!” Her green eyes narrow at him before she looks suspiciously around at the crowded mess hall.

“Jyn,” he says calmly, “you don’t have your own room, you spend all your time with me or the team, you steal my food, we don’t flirt with anyone else.”

“We’re in the middle of a war! When would we have time to get married?!” Her voice starts to grow shrill, drawing attention from interested onlookers.

Cassian remains infuriatingly amused. “According to Bodhi, the pilots speculate it happened in the middle of a battle, but the stories always change.”

“Morons,” she declares with a wave of her fork,” the whole lot of them.”

Cassian laughs, taking his drink back. He can see where the rumors stem from. _Dios_ , he’ll do anything for Jyn and he’s made no secret of that. She’s done the same – threatened to leave the Rebellion to bring him home safe. He tells himself she’d do that for any of their crew, but he’s the one she clings to when the nightmares get too bad.

They found home in each other, after years of running. They just have interesting ways of showing it.

“So every night is date night?” He grins at her, knowing he has her cornered as she stills.

Jyn swallows. “Shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading! This is the first in a 30 day Writing Challenge based on [this post](http://nerds-are-cool.tumblr.com/post/133544218971/if-youre-struggling-for-au-ideas-take). You can also find them all on my tumblr: [here](http://www.writewithurheart.tumblr.com). 
> 
> Please let me know what you think and THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR READING!


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